Agenzia Giornalistica Italia, Italy
Nov 11 2006
POPE IN TURKEY: ERDOGAN WILL BE SUBSTITUTED BY VICE-PREMIER
(AGI) – Vatican City, Nov. 11 – Benedetto XVI will be received in
Turkey by the president of the republic Ahmet Necdet Sezer, who will
receive him in the Presidential Palace immediately after the arrival
at the Ankara airport (scheduled for 1pm on November 28) and the
visit to the Ataturk mausoleum, the nation’s symbol. At the
presidential palace the Pope will also meet one of the three
vice-premiers in government representation (president Erdogan, as is
already known, will be in Riga, for the NATO summit). The most
internationally known amongst the vice-premiers is Abdullah Gul, who
also covers the role of foreign secretary. Pope Ratzinger will then
go to the headquarters for the department of Religious Affairs to
meet the president Ali’ Bardakoglu. In the evening the Pope will meet
the Diplomatic Corps. On Wednesday 29 the Pope will go to Efeso to
celebrate a mass and in the evening he will arrive in Istanbul where
he will quickly meet the head catholic priest Bartolomeo I and will
pray with him in the San Giorgio Church. But November 30, saints day
of Sant’Andrea, will be the important moment of the visit to the head
priest, because Benedetto XVI and Bartolomeo I will together sign a
joint statement. Then there are plans for the visit to the former
Orthodox Cathedral of Santa Sofia, today a museum, and to the
Apostolic Armenian Cathedral, where the Pontiff will be received by
the head priest Mesrob II. Subsequently, in the local headquarters of
the Papal Nuncio, Pope Ratzinger will receive the Syrian Orthodox
priest and the grand rabbi of Turkey. And finally, the meeting with
the Turkish bishops with whom he will celebrate a mass in the Santo
Spirito Cathedral the following day, on December 1. The departure
from Istanbul is scheduled for 1:15pm, with arrival at Ciampino
Airport at 2:45pm. (AGI) –
111758 NOV 06